Interview with Ian from Twisted Twig Tree Service

If you live in Jupiter Farms, there's a good chance you've driven past Ian Schuettler's work without knowing it. Ian owns Twisted Twig Tree Service, a local company that handles tree trimming, tree removal, stump grinding, debris hauling, and storm cleanup around Jupiter. When a tree needs to come down, or a storm leaves a mess behind, he's the person a lot of local homeowners call.

"We're your local tree service guy," Ian says. "We go out on a limb so you don't have to."

Twisted Twig is a small company, with about two crews on the road. Ian keeps it that way on purpose, and he's often out on the jobs himself.

"We're just a local company, a small company, not a huge one," he says. "We love to take care of our customers and help out as much as possible."

We sat down with Ian to talk about how he got started, what really happens when a tree falls on a house, and why he built his business around his son.

Growing Up on the Dirt Roads of Jupiter Farms

Ian's story with trees starts at home. His mom bought property in Jupiter Farms in the 1980s, and Ian moved out there around 1988 or 1989. Back then, the area looked a lot different.

"Nothing but dirt roads," he remembers.

His mom loved fruit trees, and she filled the property with them. Mangoes were one of her favorites. There were a lot of banana trees, plus black sapote, white sapote, and plenty of other varieties. Many of those trees are still on the property today.

She was the one who showed Ian how to care for them. He learned by working beside her, then kept learning on his own. Over time, that turned into trimming, and trimming turned into a trade. He was doing tree work long before he ever thought of it as a job.

His mom's own story is one Ian is proud of. She came to the United States from Mexico, became a licensed nurse, and built a life here. The trees were her passion, and she passed that on to her son, even when he wasn't always excited about it.

"At first you get a little hesitant. You don't want to do it, because it feels more like work," Ian says. "But then you start to understand the importance of it. To grow things, to help the habitat, and to be able to enjoy your own fruit and your own trees."

There was one rule on the property, and it was simple. Every tree had to earn its spot. If it didn't flower, and it didn't produce fruit, it needed another good reason to stay.

"If it didn't have flowers or fruit, or produce something, it was like, all right, we've got to get rid of it," Ian laughs. "It better be a good shade tree or something."

Ian has been trimming trees since he was a teenager. He started Twisted Twig about eight years ago, and since then his crews have worked on homes all around the area.

The Day a Tornado Came Through

Storm work is a big part of tree service in South Florida. Ian knows that from more than just his job. He has lived through it.

In 2024, as Hurricane Milton crossed the state from the west coast, Ian was out in his yard with his son, getting things ready. They were making sure everything was tucked in and put away. Nobody on the property expected much from the storm.

Then his son heard something.

"He goes, 'Hey Dad, what's that noise?' And I just hear that rumble," Ian says. "I said, 'Run, get in the house.'"

His grandma, his sister, and his stepdad were all inside. Ian got everyone into the bathroom. Then he went back to the sliding glass door, which had started to creep open, and shut it.

That door mattered more than most people would think. Ian explains that you don't want to let the wind into your home during a storm like that. Once the air gets inside, it can pull the roof right off.

When he got to the door, the tornado was already passing over.

"It felt like it was right on top of us," he says. It ran down his backyard, went up between his house and his neighbor's, and then moved on through the homes around him.

When it was over, trees were down everywhere. Some had fallen onto power lines. Others had knocked down onto the roads. His neighbors had trees on their homes, on their cars, and across their driveways.

This is where having the right equipment made all the difference. Ian had his skid steer with a grapple on hand, plus a few saws. He cleared his own property first and opened up his driveway. Then he went to work for everyone else.

He didn't try to clean up every branch that day. The goal was to clear a path, so his neighbors could get out of their homes and get where they needed to go. He pulled off the main things and opened the way.

There was plenty more work in the days after that. But Ian still remembers the first hour.

"That was a doozy for us," he says. "I'd never experienced a tornado, and I don't ever want to experience one again. That is a scary situation."

Why Downed Trees Are So Dangerous

A fallen tree can do serious damage. It can hit a roof, crush a car, or break into a home. How bad it gets depends on how big the tree is and what kind of tree it is.

But Ian says the danger doesn't end once the tree is down. In a lot of ways, that's when the risky part starts.

"What a lot of people don't understand is when that tree is sitting on a roof, on a home, it's what we call loaded," he explains. "You don't know what branch is holding how much pressure."

That's why Ian and his crew don't just walk up and start cutting. First, they judge the tree. Then they rope things off and strap the tree in, so everything is secure. Only then do they start taking pieces off, one at a time, working toward the parts that are sitting on the roof.

Skip those steps, and things can go wrong fast.

"You cut one, and the tree can kind of explode," he says. "A branch can explode, and then the pieces fall."

There's a lot that goes into it, Ian says, that people don't see from the ground. Plenty of homeowners look at a tree and think they can just cut it down and handle it themselves.

He has seen what happens when someone tries. On one job, a homeowner started cutting a tree at the very back of their property, around a corner. Partway through, they noticed it starting to lean the wrong way. So they grabbed a strap, tied the tree to another tree nearby, and cranked it down. Then they called Ian.

"We were like, well, you did a good job of securing it," he says.

Ian went in, secured it properly, and finished the job. The homeowner was lucky there was another tree close enough to strap it to. If not, Ian says, that tree would have ended up sitting on the roof.

He understands why people want to try it themselves. He just wants them to know there's a safer option.

"I get it, I understand," he says. "That's what I'm for."

More Than Cutting Trees

When most people think of tree service, they think of cutting and trimming. Ian says there's a lot more to the business than that.

Sometimes a homeowner calls because a tree is in trouble. Maybe it's suddenly going bald, or it looks like it's dying, and they want to know what happened. Tree diseases are a whole part of the work on their own.

Then there's what gets left behind after a removal.

"What are you going to do with that little stump that's sitting there?" Ian asks.

A lot of tree companies outsource their stump grinding to someone else. Twisted Twig does it in house. That means one company handles the job from start to finish.

Ian has also invested in his own equipment, so his crews can get into tight spots. One of his favorite machines is a spider lift. It's 36 inches wide, so it fits into backyards where bigger trucks can't go. Once it's in place, it opens up and reaches up to 60 feet.

That lift has led to some work you might not expect from a tree service. Some electrical companies have called Ian when they have a job in a spot they can't reach with their own equipment. Renting a machine for that can cost around a thousand dollars, Ian says. Instead, they hire him for about half that, since he knows the job may only take an hour or so.

Sometimes that means Ian is up there changing light bulbs himself. Other times, if it's electrical work he doesn't want to touch, he maneuvers the electrician up to where they need to be.

Twisted Twig also does wood chipping and debris hauling. On top of the tree work, the company offers lawn service, mostly for commercial properties, along with a few residential customers.

Ian is now in the process of getting a grapple truck on the road. It will add another service to the list, with more debris hauling and more capacity for cleanups after hurricanes.

Storm cleanup used to come around almost every year. The last couple of years have been quieter, and Ian is honest about what that means for business.

"Not as great for my pocket," he jokes. "But at least everybody else has been able to save a little money, and have a little less headache and stress." And, he adds, a little less fear of everybody buying up all the toilet paper.

Fair Prices, Done Right

The way Ian runs Twisted Twig is a big part of how he keeps his prices fair. He has a couple of guys on his trimming crew, and he keeps the business compact on purpose. Less overhead means he can keep his prices competitive.

But Ian is clear that he isn't trying to be the cheapest option in town. There's a reason for that.

"I won't ever say I'm the cheap guy," he says. "I can't compete with the guy with a ladder in his truck. I have the insurance, I have the licenses. I've done the homework and the work."

Ian is also not the kind of owner who stays on the ground. He has no problem climbing up and doing the work himself.

"It's part of the business," he says. "How do you tell somebody what to do if you won't do it or don't know how to?"

What to Expect When You Call

Calling Twisted Twig starts with a simple, friendly conversation. Ian will ask how you're doing, ask what's going on, and talk it through with you.

What he won't do is promise you a firm price over the phone, or even over a video call.

"I can give you a general idea, but not an honest or accurate estimate," he says. "A lot goes into what, where, and how I'm going to do it."

To Ian, those details are the most important part of the job. Where is the tree? What's around it? How will his crew get to it safely? Those answers change the work, so he wants to see it for himself.

After that first call, he'll set up a time to come out, look at the job in person, and give you an estimate from there.

Built Around Being a Dad

Ask Ian what he loves most about owning his own business, and his answer has nothing to do with trees.

"Flexibility and schedule was the main thing, so I could raise my son as a single parent," he says. "I wanted to be able to take him to school and be able to pick him up. A normal nine to five doesn't allow that. I chose what was important to me."

That's the same son who was out in the yard with him when the tornado came through, and the one who heard it first.

Rapid Fire With Ian

To wrap things up, we asked Ian a few quick this-or-that questions.

Beach or boat? Boat, without much hesitation.

"I love the beach, don't get me wrong," he says. "But if you tell me let's go out on the boat or let's go to the beach, let's head down to the boat and see what we can get into."

And he doesn't just mean fishing. He likes cruising the Intracoastal, racing, wave runners, snorkeling, and diving.

"Anything to do with the water, I love it."

Fishing or hunting? Fishing.

Pizza or tacos? Tacos, and it wasn't close.

"I enjoy pizza about once a week," he says, "but I can eat tacos almost every day."

He admits his family history has a little influence on that one.

What He Hopes Customers Say

We asked Ian one last question. If a customer were telling a neighbor about him and Twisted Twig, what would he want them to say?

He gave us five words.

"Honest, competitive, straightforward, knowledgeable, and friendly."

Each of those showed up in our conversation. Honest is why he won't guess at a price over the phone. Competitive is why he keeps the company small. Straightforward is how he talks about the work, and the risks. Knowledgeable goes back to a lifetime of learning trees, starting in his mom's yard. And friendly is how every call with Ian starts.

Find Twisted Twig Tree Service

Twisted Twig Tree Service is a Jupiter Farms company serving homeowners and businesses around Jupiter. Their services include tree trimming, tree removal, stump grinding, wood chipping, debris hauling, storm cleanup, and lawn service.

Find Twisted Twig Tree Service on Google, and see their founder listing here on JupiterBusinessGuide.com.